Communication control device, communication control system, and communication control method

ABSTRACT

A data acquisition unit repeatedly acquires pieces of notification information for executing predetermined processing from respective BLE devices. A connection controller detects a BLE device, calculates digitalized values of influences of the respective pieces of notification information acquired from the respective BLE devices on the predetermined processing on the basis of the pieces of notification information already acquired by the data acquisition unit, selects a BLE device on the basis of the calculated digitalized values of the influences, and causes the data acquisition unit to stop acquisition of the notification information from the selected BLE device and establishes connection with the BLE device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-071403, filed on Mar. 31,2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a communication controldevice, a communication control system, and a communication controlmethod.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that collect piecesof data from a large number of devices such as sensors and apparatusescollecting predetermined information and utilize them for service havespread. Examples of the IoT solutions include solutions for improvingproductivity and quality in factories and solutions for efficientlyusing energy.

Bluetooth (registered trademark) low energy (BLE) devices have recentlyincreased as devices that are used in IoT. The BLE is a short-rangeradio communication standard and a configuration in which pieces ofnotification information as pieces of data transmitted from the BLEdevices are connected to a center server through a gate way (GW) devicearranged in the range where radio waves reach is used in many cases.There are two methods for acquiring the pieces of data from the BLEdevices by the GW device. Both of the methods use scanning processingwith which the GW device detects the BLE devices and advertise messageswith which the BLE devices notify of their own presences.

With the one data acquisition method, when the GW device receives theadvertise message output from the BLE device during execution of thescanning, the GW device transmits and receives data to and from the BLEdevice as an output source of the advertise message and acquiresnotification information. Hereinafter, the BLE device that transmits thenotification information using this data acquisition method is referredto as a “beacon-type” BLE device. The beacon-type BLE device includes atype of device that incorporates the notification information into theadvertise message and transmits it to the GW device.

With the other data acquisition method, when the GW device receives theadvertise message output from the BLE device during execution of thescanning, the GW device performs connection processing with the BLEdevice as an output source of the advertise message. Then, the GW devicetransmits and receives data to and from the BLE device with which theconnection processing has been completed to establish connection andacquires the notification information. When the GW device acquires thenotification information from the BLE device with which connection hasalready been established, it acquires the notification informationwithout performing the scanning, the reception of the advertise message,and the connection processing. Hereinafter, the BLE device thattransmits the notification information using this data acquisitionmethod is referred to as a “connection-type” BLE device.

When the GW device performs the scanning and data transmission andreception during execution of the connection processing with theconnection-type BLE device, the connection processing is finished andconnection with the BLE device is not established. For this reason, theGW device detects no BLE device through the scanning and acquires nonotification information from other BLE devices during the connectionprocessing. In the case in which there are the BLE devices subordinateto one GW device, the GW device does not acquire the pieces ofnotification information that are transmitted from the other BLE devicesduring the connection processing when performing the connectionprocessing with the connection-type BLE device. Missing of thenotification information therefore occurs and service quality of serviceinvolving provision of the pieces of notification information of the BLEdevices is deteriorated.

Several methods can be considered in order to avoid the deterioration inthe service. For example, a method in which the GW device has aplurality of interfaces can be considered. This method enables the GWdevice to perform the connection processing and the detection of the BLEdevices by the scanning and acquisition of the pieces of notificationinformation from the other BLE devices in parallel. In addition, thereis, for example, a method in which reception intervals of the pieces ofnotification information from the other BLE devices are monitored andthe connection processing is executed in a time band during which datatransmission and reception are not performed.

Furthermore, there is a conventional communication control technique inwhich connection with a plurality of terminals is performed whilelowering the priority of connection with a terminal under a bad radiowave environment. There is also a conventional technique in which datatransfer capable of being delayed is delayed in congestion. Moreover, aconventional technique in which assignment of channel time is changeddepending on types of services that pieces of transmission and receptiondata provide has been known. A conventional technique in whichconnection with apparatuses making short-range wireless communication isperformed in the order of priority by adding the priorities to theapparatuses has been also known.

Conventional techniques are described, for example, in JapaneseLaid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-211815, Japanese NationalPublication of International Patent Application No. 2006-520550,Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-198305, and JapaneseLaid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-319946 are examples of theconventional techniques.

With the method in which the interfaces are mounted in the GW device, itis difficult to add a communication interface because cost forintroduction and operation is increased although addition of thecommunication interface is considered to be requested after operation.That is to say, it is difficult to prevent addition of theconnection-type BLE device from influencing acquisition of the pieces ofnotification information of the other BLE devices and there is the riskthat service quality is reduced. Furthermore, the method in which theconnection processing is executed in the time band during which the datatransmission and reception are not performed by the other devices hasthe risk that spare time becomes short and the connection is notcompleted when many BLE devices are present. In addition, when it takesa long time for the connection using spare time due to a worse radiowave status, acquisition failure of the notification information ofanother BLE device occurs.

Even with the conventional technique in which the connection with theterminals is performed while lowering the priority of connection withthe terminal under the bad radio wave environment, it is difficult toreduce influences by the connection of the connection-type BLE device oninformation acquisition of the other BLE devices and there is the riskthat the service quality is reduced. The same holds true for the usageof the conventional technique in which the data transfer capable ofbeing delayed is delayed in congestion, the conventional technique inwhich the assignment of the channel time is changed depending on thetypes of services, and the conventional technique in which theconnection is performed in the order of priority.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of an embodiment, a communication control deviceincludes: a data acquisition unit that repeatedly acquires pieces ofnotification information for executing predetermined processing from aplurality of terminal devices; and a connection controller that detectsa specific connectible terminal device, calculates digitalized values ofinfluences of the respective pieces of notification information acquiredfrom the respective terminal devices on the predetermined processing onthe basis of the pieces of notification information already acquired bythe data acquisition unit, selects a terminal device on the basis of thecalculated digitalized values of the influences, and causes the dataacquisition unit to stand by for acquisition of the notificationinformation from the selected terminal device and establishes connectionwith the specific terminal device.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out inthe claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of aninformation collection system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a GW device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notificationinformation table;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a radio wave intensitytable;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device table;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a necessity table;

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of connection processing by a GW deviceaccording to a first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of necessity calculation processing;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of connection timing determination processing;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining variation in connection timing basedon difference in necessity of each BLE device;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the connection timing determination processingin reconnection;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the variation in the connectiontiming based on the difference in the necessity of the BLE device to beconnected in the reconnection;

FIG. 13 is a hardware configuration diagram of the GW device; and

FIG. 14 is a hardware configuration diagram of each BLE device.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained withreference to accompanying drawings. The communication control device,the communication control system, the communication control method, andthe communication control program that are disclosed in the presentapplication are not limited by the following embodiments.

[a] First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the system configuration of aninformation collection system. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an informationcollection system 100 in the embodiment includes GW devices 1, BLEdevices 2, a center server 3, and an application server 4. Theinformation collection system 100 is an example of a “communicationcontrol system”.

The application server 4 transmits, to the center server 3, atransmission request of notification information notified from the BLEdevice 2. Thereafter, the application server 4 acquires the specifiednotification information from the center server 3. The applicationserver 4 performs predetermined processing using the collectednotification information. The application server 4 is an example of a“processing execution device”.

In the embodiment, the application server 4 has, for the respective BLEdevices 2, abnormal values for detecting occurrence of abnormalitieswith the pieces of notification information notified from the BLEdevices 2. The application server 4 transmits, to the center server 3,determination conditions for determining the abnormalities using theabnormal values.

The center server 3 is connected to one or the plurality of GW devices1. The center server 3 receives the pieces of notification informationcollected from the BLE devices 2 from the GW device 1 connected thereto.The center server 3 accumulates therein the pieces of receivednotification information. After that, when the center server 3 receivesthe transmission request from the application server 4, it extractsspecified data from the pieces of accumulated notification informationand transmits it to the application server 4.

The center server 3 receives the determination conditions of therespective BLE devices 2 from the application server 4. The centerserver 3 transmits the received determination conditions of therespective BLE devices 2 to the GW device 1 to which the respective BLEdevices 2 are connected.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the center server 3 and the applicationserver 4 as different servers, in practice, one apparatus may havefunctions of the center server 3 and the application server 4.

The BLE devices 2 are connected to the GW device 1. Hereinafter, the BLEdevices 2 connected to the GW device 1 are referred to as the BLEdevices 2 subordinate to the GW device 1. A large number of BLE devices2 are arranged and the number of them exceeds the number of manageabledevices by the GW device 1 in many cases. In order to cope with such acase and reduce load on one GW device 1, the GW devices 1 are arrangedfor one center server 3 in many cases.

The GW device 1 executes scanning and receives advertise messages fromthe subordinate BLE devices 2 with constant time intervals. When the BLEdevice 2 is a beacon-type device, the GW device 1 transmits a datatransmission request to the BLE device 2 as a transmission source of theadvertise message. Thereafter, the GW device 1 receives, as a responseto the transmission request, the notification information from the BLEdevice 2 as the transmission destination of the data transmissionrequest. The GW device 1 is an example of a “communication controldevice”.

When the BLE device 2 is a connection-type device, the GW device 1executes connection processing with the BLE device 2 as a transmissionsource of the advertise message to establish connection therewith. Afterthe establishment of the connection, the GW device 1 transmits a datatransmission request to the BLE device 2 with which the connection hasbeen established with a constant time interval. Thereafter, the GWdevice 1 receives, as a response to the transmission request, thenotification information from the BLE device 2 as the transmissiondestination of the data transmission request. The connection processingwill be described in detail later.

Each BLE device 2 acquires predetermined information. The BLE device 2acquires, for example, information about the temperature of an installedplace and information about humidity thereof. The BLE device 2 transmitsthe acquired information as the notification information to the GWdevice 1. The BLE device 2 is an example of a “terminal device”.

Next, the connection processing of the connection-type BLE device 2 bythe GW device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is ablock diagram of the GW device. Each BLE device 21 is a BLE device 2that has ever transmitted notification information to the GW device 1.The BLE device 21 may be a connection-type or beacon-type BLE device.When the BLE device 21 is the connection-type BLE device, the BLE device2 is in a connected state with the GW device 1. There are a plurality ofBLE devices 21. Hereinafter, the BLE device 2 from which the GW device 1continuously receives the notification information is referred to as adata collection device in some cases. A BLE device 20 is theconnection-type BLE device 2 with which the connection processing is tobe performed. Hereinafter, the connection-type BLE device 2 with whichthe connection processing is to be performed is referred to as a BLEdevice to be connected.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the GW device 1 includes a data acquisitionunit 11, a connection controller 12, a necessity management unit 13, anotification information management unit 14, a radio wave intensitymanagement unit 15, and a device management unit 16.

The data acquisition unit 11 makes data transmission request and so onand receives the notification information from each BLE device 21. Thedata acquisition unit 11 outputs the received notification informationand the acquisition time to the notification information management unit14. The data acquisition unit 11 acquires a connection status with theBLE device 21 that includes a radio wave intensity using receivedpackets containing the notification information in the reception of thepackets. The data acquisition unit 11 outputs the radio wave intensityto the radio wave intensity management unit 15. The connection statusthat includes the radio wave intensity is an example of a “communicationstate”.

The data acquisition unit 11 receives notification of connectioncompletion of the BLE device 20 from the connection controller 12.Thereafter, the data acquisition unit 11 starts reception of thenotification information from the BLE device 20 and outputs the receivednotification information from the BLE device 20 to the notificationinformation management unit 14. The data acquisition unit 11 outputs theradio wave intensity with the BLE device 20 to the radio wave intensitymanagement unit 15.

The notification information management unit 14 includes a storagedevice. The notification information management unit 14 has anotification information table 141 as illustrated in FIG. 3 in its ownstorage device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of thenotification information table.

The notification information management unit 14 receives, from the dataacquisition unit 11, input of the notification information and theacquisition time together with identification information of the BLEdevice 21 as a transmission source. In this example, the notificationinformation management unit 14 acquires a device identifier (ID) as theidentification information of the BLE device 21. The notificationinformation management unit 14 registers, in the notificationinformation table 141, the acquired notification information andacquisition time while making them correspond to the device ID. Thenotification information management unit 14 transmits, to the centerserver 3, the identification information and the notificationinformation of the BLE device 21 as the transmission source.

The radio wave intensity management unit 15 includes a storage device.The radio wave intensity management unit 15 has a radio wave intensitytable 151 as illustrated in FIG. 4 in its own storage device. FIG. 4 isa diagram illustrating an example of the radio wave intensity table.

The radio wave intensity management unit 15 receives, from the dataacquisition unit 11, input of the radio wave intensity together with theidentification information of the BLE device 21 as the transmissionsource of the packets from which the radio wave intensity has beenacquired. The radio wave intensity management unit 15 also acquires thedevice ID as the identification information of the BLE device 21. Theradio wave intensity management unit 15 registers, in the radio waveintensity table 151, the acquired radio wave intensity while making itcorrespond to the device ID.

The device management unit 16 includes a storage device. The devicemanagement unit 16 has a device table 161 in which the BLE devices 21are registered in its own storage device. FIG. 5 is a diagramillustrating an example of the device table.

The device management unit 16 receives the determination conditions ofthe BLE devices 21 from the center server 3. The device management unit16 registers, in the device table 161, the received determinationconditions while making them correspond to the BLE devices 21. Thedetermination condition has the abnormal value as a threshold fordetermining an abnormal state and a condition for determination usingthe abnormal value. For example, in the case of the determinationcondition that the temperature is higher than 40° C. in FIG. 5, theabnormal value is 40° C.

After connection with the BLE device 20 is established, the devicemanagement unit 16 acquires the device ID as the identificationinformation of the BLE device 20 and a data acquisition cycle thereoffrom the connection controller 12. Then, the device management unit 16adds an entry of the BLE device 20 to the device table 161. Thereafter,the device management unit 16 registers, in the device table 161, thedetermination conditions of the BLE devices 21 that have been receivedfrom the center server 3.

The device management unit 16 further acquires, from the dataacquisition unit 11, pieces of information of the BLE devices 2including the BLE devices 21 as data acquisition sources. The devicemanagement unit 16 adds, to the device table 161, information indicatingwhether data is being collected for each BLE device 2. In FIG. 5, theBLE devices 2 with circles in the item of “data collection in progress”are, for example, the BLE devices 2 as notification informationreception targets. The BLE device 2 with no circle in the item of “datacollection in progress” is the BLE device 2 excluded from thenotification information reception targets. The BLE device 2 excludedfrom the notification information reception targets is, for example, aBLE device 2 from which notification information was being received butfor which it has become difficult to acquire notification informationdue to a worsened radio wave status. In the embodiment, the device table161 keeps information of the BLE device 2 excluded from the notificationinformation reception targets but the device management unit 16 maydelete, from the device table 161, the information of the BLE device 2excluded from the notification information reception targets.

The necessity management unit 13 includes a storage device. Thenecessity management unit 13 stores therein a necessity table 131illustrated in FIG. 6 in its own storage device. FIG. 6 is a diagramillustrating an example of the necessity table. The necessity will bedescribed in detail later.

The connection controller 12 receives the advertise message from the BLEdevice 20. The connection controller 12 detects, as the BLE device 20 tobe connected, the BLE device 20 as the transmission source of theadvertise message. Then, the connection controller 12 executesprocessing of determining timing at which the connection processing withthe BLE device 20 to be connected will be performed. Hereinafter, theprocessing of determining the timing at which the connection processingwith the BLE device 20 will be performed will be described in detail.

The connection controller 12 extracts the BLE devices 21 during the datacollection from the device table 161 that the device management unit 16has. Subsequently, the connection controller 12 selects one from theextracted BLE devices 21 during the data collection.

Then, the connection controller 12 acquires the pieces of notificationinformation of the selected BLE device 21 up to the current time pointfrom a time point, which was a specific period of time before thecurrent time, from the notification information table 141 that thenotification information management unit 14 has. For example, when theBLE device 21 transmits a measurement value as the notificationinformation every 1 to 10 seconds, the connection controller 12 sets theconstant period of time to 10 minutes or the like. The connectioncontroller 12 calculates an average value and a dispersion value of thepieces of acquired notification information.

Subsequently, the connection controller 12 acquires the abnormal valueof the selected BLE device 21 from the device table 161 that the devicemanagement unit 16 has. The connection controller 12 then calculates adifference between the calculated average value of the pieces ofnotification information and the acquired abnormal value.

Furthermore, the connection controller 12 acquires the radio waveintensity of the selected BLE device 21 from the radio wave intensitytable 151 that the radio wave intensity management unit 15 has.

The connection controller 12 calculates the necessity of the selectedBLE device 21 using the difference between the average value and theabnormal value, the dispersion value of the pieces of notificationinformation, and the radio wave intensity in the following equation 1.

$\begin{matrix}{{Necessity} = {\frac{1}{difference} \times {dispersion}\mspace{14mu} {value} \times \frac{1}{{radio}\mspace{14mu} {wave}\mspace{14mu} {intensity}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

The necessity is decreased as the difference between the average valueof the pieces of notification information and the abnormal value islarger. That is to say, the necessity is increased when the recentpieces of notification information are close to the abnormal value andthe possibility that the abnormality occurs is high. The necessity isincreased as variation is increased. That is to say, the necessity isincreased when the variation is large, the notification information tobe subsequently transmitted is incapable of being predicted, and thepossibility that the abnormality occurs is high. The necessity isdecreased as the radio wave intensity is higher. That is to say, thenecessity is increased for the BLE device 2 for which the number oftimes of trying to acquire the notification information therefrom ispreferably increased because the possibility that the notificationinformation can be acquired is low due to a bad radio wave status. Inother words, the necessity can be considered as a digitized value of theinfluence on the predetermined processing that the application server 4executes.

The connection controller 12 outputs the calculated necessity to thenecessity management unit 13. The connection controller 12 repeats theabove-described necessity calculation processing to calculate thenecessities of all of the BLE devices 21.

Then, the connection controller 12 sorts the pieces of information ofthe BLE devices 21 registered in the necessity table 131 that thenecessity management unit 13 has in the descending order of thenecessity. The connection controller 12 selects the BLE devices 21 inthe decreasing order of the necessity from the pieces of sortedinformation in the necessity table 131.

The connection controller 12 previously stores therein a threshold ofthe necessity for determining whether next acquisition of thenotification information of each BLE device 21 may be skipped. Theconnection controller 12 determines whether the necessity of theselected BLE device 21 is lower than the threshold. When the necessityof the selected BLE device 21 is equal to or higher than the threshold,the connection controller 12 shifts to determination of the subsequentBLE device 21.

On the other hand, when the necessity of the selected BLE device 21 islower than the threshold, the connection controller 12 acquires the dataacquisition cycle of the selected BLE device 21 from the device table161 that the device management unit 16 has. The connection controller 12calculates the next acquisition timing of the notification informationof the selected BLE device 21. The next acquisition timing of thenotification information is, for example, time from the current timepoint to the next acquisition of the notification information.

The connection controller 12 stores therein the calculated nextacquisition timing of the notification information of the selected BLEdevice 21 and shifts to determination for the subsequent BLE device 21.The connection controller 12 repeats the determination in order to makethe determination for all of the BLE devices 21 during the datacollection. Thereafter, the connection controller 12 determines whetherthere is a BLE device 2 the necessity of which is lower than thethreshold among the BLE devices 21.

When there are the BLE devices 2 the necessities of which are lower thanthe threshold, the connection controller 12 specifies the BLE device 21with the closest next acquisition timing of the notification informationamong the BLE devices 21 the necessities of which are lower than thethreshold. Then, the connection controller 12 determines that theconnection processing with the BLE device 20 to be connected is executedat the next acquisition timing of the notification information of thespecified BLE device 21.

When the necessities of the BLE devices 21 are equal to or higher thanthe threshold, the connection controller 12 specifies the BLE device 21with the lowest necessity. Then, the connection controller 12 determinesthat the connection processing with the BLE device 20 to be connected isexecuted at the next acquisition timing of the notification informationof the specified BLE device 21.

After that, when the next acquisition timing of the notificationinformation of the specified BLE device 21 comes, the connectioncontroller 12 executes the connection processing with the BLE device 20to be connected. When the connection with the BLE device 20 to beconnected is established, the connection controller 12 notifies the dataacquisition unit 11 of the establishment of the connection and notifiesthe device management unit 16 of the identification information and thedata acquisition cycle of the BLE device 20.

That is to say, when the abnormal value is set to each BLE device 21,the connection controller 12 executes the connection processing at theacquisition timing of the notification information of the BLE device 21under the condition that the abnormality is difficult to occur althoughthe closest timing is finally selected. In the embodiment, theconnection controller 12 executes the connection processingpreferentially at the acquisition timing of the notification informationof the BLE device 21 with the high possibility that the notificationinformation can be acquired therefrom.

The data acquisition unit 11 acquires no notification information fromthe BLE devices 21 while the connection controller 12 executes theconnection processing. That is to say, the data acquisition unit 11stands by for collection of the pieces of notification information ofthe BLE devices 23.

In the embodiment, the abnormal value is set to each BLE device 21 as anexample. Alternatively, when no abnormal value is set, the connectioncontroller 12 executes the connection processing at the acquisitiontiming of the notification information of the BLE device 21 for whichthe notification information to be subsequently transmitted can bepredicted for the following reason. That is, when the notificationinformation to be subsequently transmitted can be predicted to someextent, the processing that the application server 4 executes is lessinfluenced even when the notification information is not acquired.

Next, flow of the connection processing of the connection-type BLEdevice 2 by the GW device 1 in the embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of the connectionprocessing by the GW device in the first embodiment. In FIG. 7, the BLEdevices 21 to 23 are the BLE devices 2 from which pieces of data arebeing acquired and the BLE device 24 is the BLE device 2 from which datahas been acquired before but no data is being currently acquired. TheBLE devices 21 and 23 are the beacon-type BLE devices 2 and the BLEdevice 22 is the connection-type BLE device 2. The BLE device 20 is theBLE device 2 to be connected. Although FIG. 7 illustrates the BLEdevices 20 to 24, they are examples and there are other BLE devices 2subordinate to the GW device 1.

The application server 4 transmits, to the center server 3, thedetermination conditions (step S1).

The center server 3 receives the determination conditions from theapplication server 4. The center server 3 then transmits thedetermination conditions to the GW device 1 (step S2).

The device management unit 16 of the GW device 1 receives thedetermination conditions from the center server 3. The device managementunit 16 registers the determination conditions corresponding to therespective BLE devices 21 to 23 in the device table 161. Thereafter, thedata acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 collects the pieces ofnotification information from the BLE devices 21 to 23 (step S3). Then,the notification information management unit 14 registers, in thenotification information table 141, the pieces of notificationinformation of the BLE devices 21 to 23 collected by the dataacquisition unit 11.

Details of the acquisition processing of the pieces of notificationinformation at step S3 will be described. The connection controller 12receives the advertise message from the BLE device 21 (step S31). Theconnection controller 12 notifies the data acquisition unit 11 of thereception of the advertise message from the BLE device 21. When the dataacquisition unit 11 is notified of the reception of the advertisemessage, it transmits a collection request to the BLE device 21 as thetransmission source of the advertise message (step S32). The BLE device21 transmits, as a response to the collection request, the notificationinformation to the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 (stepS33).

The data acquisition unit 11 transmits the collection request to the BLEdevice 22 in a state of being connected periodically (step S34). The BLEdevice 22 transmits, as a response to the collection request, thenotification information to the data acquisition unit 11 of the GWdevice 1 (step S35).

The connection controller 12 receives the advertise message from the BLEdevice 23 (step S36). Thereafter, the data acquisition unit 11 transmitsthe collection request to the BLE device 23 (step S37). The BLE device23 transmits, as a response to the collection request, the notificationinformation to the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 (stepS38). The GW device 1 also receives the pieces of notificationinformation from the BLE devices 2 as the other data collection devicesand completes step S3. The GW device 1 acquires no notificationinformation from the BLE device 24 because the BLE device 24 is excludedfrom the notification information reception targets.

Thereafter, the connection controller 12 of the GW device 1 receives theadvertise message from the BLE device 20 (step S4).

Then, the connection controller 12 of the GW device 1 calculates thenecessities of the data collection devices including the BLE devices 21to 23 (step S5).

The connection controller 12 of the GW device 1 determines theconnection timing using the calculated necessities of the respectivedata collection devices (step S6). That is to say, the connectioncontroller 12 determines the BLE device 2 with the collection timing ofthe notification information at which it executes the connectionprocessing with the BLE device 20. In this example, the connectioncontroller 12 determines that it executes the connection processing withthe BLE device 20 at the collection timing of the notificationinformation of the BLE device 23.

Thereafter, the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 executes thecollection processing of the pieces of notification information from theBLE devices 21 and 22 (step S7).

The connection controller 12 of the GW device 1 executes the connectionprocessing with the BLE device 20 at the collection timing of thenotification information of the BLE device 23 (step S8). In this case,the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 acquires no notificationinformation of the BLE device 23 at timing P. That is to say, the dataacquisition unit 11 stands by for collection of the notificationinformation of the BLE device 23 and skips the collection for one timeat the timing P.

Thereafter, the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 executes thecollection processing of the pieces of notification information from theother data collection devices (step S9). With these pieces ofprocessing, the data acquisition unit 11 can acquire the pieces ofnotification information of all of the data collection devices otherthan the BLE device 23.

Thereafter, the data acquisition unit 11 of the GW device 1 executes thecollection processing of the pieces of notification information from thedata collection devices including the BLE devices 20 to 23 becauseconnection with the BLE device 20 has been established (step S10).

Next, flow of the necessity calculation processing by the GW device 1 inthe embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is aflowchart of the necessity calculation unit processing. The processingillustrated in the flowchart in FIG. 8 is an example of the processingthat is executed at step S5 in FIG. 7.

The data acquisition unit 11 collects the pieces of notificationinformation from the BLE devices 2 as the data collection devices. Thedata acquisition unit 11 measures and collects the connection statusessuch as the radio wave intensities of the respective BLE devices 2 usingthe packets used for transmission of the pieces of notificationinformation (step S101). The data acquisition unit 11 then transmits thepieces of notification information of the respective data collectiondevices to the notification information management unit 14. Thenotification information management unit 14 registers, in thenotification information table 141, the pieces of notificationinformation of the respective data collection devices. The dataacquisition unit 11 transmits the radio wave intensities of therespective BLE devices 2 to the radio wave intensity management unit 15.The radio wave intensity management unit 15 registers, in the radio waveintensity table 151, the radio wave intensities of the respective BLEdevices 2.

The connection controller 12 receives the advertise message to detectthe BLE device 2 to be connected (step S102).

Subsequently, the connection controller 12 extracts the BLE devices 2 asthe data collection devices from the device table 161 that the devicemanagement unit 16 has (step S103).

The connection controller 12 selects one BLE device 2 from the extractedBLE devices 2 (step S104).

Then, the connection controller 12 acquires the pieces of notificationinformation of the selected BLE device 2 for the constant period of timefrom the notification information table 141 that the notificationinformation management unit 14 has. The connection controller 12calculates the average value and the dispersion value of the pieces ofnotification information of the selected BLE device 2 (step S105).

Subsequently, the connection controller 12 acquires the abnormal valueset to the selected BLE device 2 from the device table 161 that thedevice management unit 16 has (step S106). The connection controller 12calculates the difference between the average value of the pieces ofnotification information of the selected BLE device 2 and the abnormalvalue thereof.

The connection controller 12 acquires the radio wave intensity of theselected BLE device 2 from the radio wave intensity table 151 that theradio wave intensity management unit 15 has (step S107).

The connection controller 12 calculates the necessity of the selectedBLE device 2 using the difference between the average value of thepieces of notification information of the selected BLE device 2 and theabnormal value thereof, the dispersion value of the pieces ofnotification information, and the radio wave intensity for the equation1 (step S108). After that, the connection controller 12 outputs thecalculated necessity to the necessity management unit 13. The necessitymanagement unit 13 registers, in the necessity table 131, the necessitywhile making it correspond to the selected BLE device 2.

After that, the connection controller 12 determines whether selection ofall of the extracted BLE devices 2 has been completed (step S109). Whenthe BLE device 2 that has not been selected remains (No at step S109),the connection controller 12 returns the process to step S104.

On the other hand, when selection of all of the extracted BLE devices 2has been completed (Yes at step S109), the connection controller 12finishes the necessity calculation processing.

Next, flow of the connection timing determination processing by the GWdevice 1 in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 9.FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the connection timing determination processing.The processing illustrated in the flowchart in FIG. 9 is an example ofthe processing that is executed at step S6 in FIG. 7.

The connection controller 12 extracts the BLE devices 2 as the datacollection devices from the device table 161 that the device managementunit 16 has (step S111). The connection controller 12 may use theextraction result of the data collection devices in the necessitycalculation processing illustrated in FIG. 8.

Then, the connection controller 12 sorts the extracted BLE devices 2 inthe descending order of the necessity using the necessity table 131 thatthe necessity management unit 13 has (step S112).

The connection controller 12 selects the BLE devices 2 in the order fromthe head of the sorted BLE devices 2 to select the BLE device 2 with thehighest necessity from the unselected BLE devices 2 (step S113).

Then, the connection controller 12 determines whether the necessity ofthe selected BLE device 2 is lower than the threshold (step S114). Whenthe necessity of the selected BLE device 2 is equal to or higher thanthe threshold (No at step S114), the connection controller 12 proceedsthe process to step S116.

On the other hand, when the necessity of the selected BLE device 2 islower than the threshold (Yes at step S114), the connection controller12 acquires the data acquisition cycle of the selected BLE device 2registered in the device table 161 that the device management unit 16has. Then, the connection controller 12 acquires next transmission andreception timing of the notification information of the selected BLEdevice 2 using the data acquisition cycle (step S115).

Thereafter, the connection controller 12 determines whether selection ofall of the extracted BLE devices 2 has been completed (step S116). Whena BLE device 2 that has not been selected is remaining (No at stepS116), the connection controller 12 returns the process to step S113.

On the other hand, when selection of all of the extracted BLE devices 2has been completed (Yes at step S116), the connection controller 12determines whether there is a BLE device 2 the necessity of which islower than the threshold among the extracted BLE devices 2 (step S117).

When there is a BLE device 2 the necessity of which is lower than thethreshold (Yes at step S117), the connection controller 12 determinesthe closest transmission and reception timing of the notificationinformation to be the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to beconnected (step S118).

When there is no BLE device 2 the necessity of which is lower than thethreshold (No at step S117), the connection controller 12 determines thetransmission timing of the notification information of the BLE device 2with the lowest necessity to be the connection timing of the BLE device2 to be connected (step S119).

Next, variation in the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to beconnected based on difference in the necessity of each BLE device 2during the data collection will be described with reference to FIG. 10.FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the variation in the connectiontiming based on the difference in the necessity of each BLE device.

In this example, there are BLE devices #1 to #7 as the data collectiondevices for explanation. In graph 201, the transverse axis indicateselapse of time and transmission and reception timings of the pieces ofnotification information of the respective BLE devices #1 to #7. Thetimes T1 to T7 are the transmission and reception timings of the piecesof notification information of the BLE devices #1 to #7, respectively.The necessities of the BLE devices #1 to #7 are assumed to be #1 to #7,respectively. The necessities satisfy a relation of#1>#2>#3>#4>#5>#6>#7.

Graph 202 is a graph expressing selection of the connection timing whenthe threshold is higher than #5 and is lower than #4. In this case, #5to #7 are lower than the threshold. In the graph 202, the times T5 to T7enclosed with circles indicate the transmission and reception timings ofthe pieces of notification information of the BLE devices 2 thenecessities of which are lower than the threshold. In this case, theconnection controller 12 determines the time T6 as the closesttransmission and reception timing from the times T5 and T6 to be theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected. That is to say,the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected in this casecorresponds to the timing indicated by a thick arrow in the graph 202.

Graph 203 is a graph expressing selection of the connection timing whenthe threshold is higher than #3 and is lower than #2. In this case, #3to #7 are lower than the threshold. In the graph 203, the times T3 to T7enclosed with circles indicate the transmission and reception timings ofthe pieces of notification information of the BLE devices 2 thenecessities of which are lower than the threshold. In this case, theconnection controller 12 determines the time T4 as the closesttransmission and reception timing among the times T3 to T6 to be theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected. That is to say,the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected in this casecorresponds to the timing indicated by a thick arrow in the graph 203.

As described above, the more BLE devices 2 having low necessities in thedata collection devices, the earlier the connection timing of the BLEdevice 2 to be connected. By contrast, the more BLE devices 2 havinghigh necessities in the data collection devices, the later theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected.

As described above, when the GW device in the embodiment detects theconnection-type BLE device, it calculates the necessities of therespective data collection devices and executes the connectionprocessing of the BLE device to be connected at the transmission andreception timing of the notification information of the BLE device thenecessity of which is lower than the threshold. With this GW device, theconnection-type BLE device can be connected and the notificationinformation thereof can be acquired while reducing acquisition failureof the notification information with the high necessity that largelyinfluences the processing of the application when the acquisitionfailure thereof occurs. Accordingly, service quality of service usingthe notification information can be improved.

Modifications

In the first embodiment, the difference between the average value andthe abnormal value, the dispersion value, and the radio wave intensityare used for calculation of the necessity. The necessity calculationmethod is however not limited thereto as long as a method can provide avalue enabling determination of whether the processing that theapplication executes is largely influenced when acquisition failureoccurs. The connection controller 12 may calculate the necessity usingthe difference between the average value and the abnormal value and thedispersion value without using the radio wave intensity while focusingon the possibility of the abnormality occurring.

The connection controller 12 may use the frequency of the acquisitionfailure of a notification information instead of the radio waveintensity as information indicating the radio wave status fordetermining the possibility of occurrence of the acquisition failure.When the frequency of the acquisition failure is high, the possibilitythat the data acquisition unit 11 fails to acquire data is considered tobe high and the number of times of reception of the notificationinformation is preferably increased as much as possible.

In this case, when the data acquisition unit 11 has failed to acquirethe notification information, it notifies the notification informationmanagement unit 14 of the acquisition failure of the notificationinformation together with identification of the BLE device 2 as thetarget.

The notification information management unit 14 is notified of theacquisition failure of the notification information by the dataacquisition unit 11. The notification information management unit 14registers, in the notification information table 141, the acquisitionfailure of the notification information while making it correspond tothe identification information of the BLE device 2 as the transmissionsource of the notification information that has been incapable of beingacquired.

In the necessity calculation processing, the connection controller 12calculates the numbers of times of the acquisition failure of the piecesof notification information of the respective BLE devices 2 as the datacollection devices for a predetermined period of time from thenotification information table 141 that the notification informationmanagement unit 14 has. The connection controller 12 sets, to thefrequencies of the data acquisition failure, the numbers of times of theacquisition failure of the pieces of notification information of therespective BLE devices 2 as the data collection devices for thepredetermined period of time. The frequency of the data acquisitionfailure is an example of the “communication state”.

Subsequently, the connection controller 12 calculates the necessities ofthe respective BLE devices 21 using the differences between the averagevalues and the abnormal values, the dispersion values of the pieces ofnotification information, the radio wave intensities, and thefrequencies of the data acquisition failure for the following equation2.

$\begin{matrix}{{Necessity} = {\frac{1}{difference} \times {dispersion}\mspace{14mu} {value} \times \frac{1}{{radio}\mspace{14mu} {wave}\mspace{14mu} {intensity}} \times {frequency}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

The connection controller 12 can acquire the necessity enabling accuratedetermination of whether the processing of the application is largelyinfluenced when the acquisition failure occurs by thus increasing theconditions for calculating the necessity.

In the above description, the BLE devices 2 to which the abnormal valuesare set are targets. The GW device 1 can however determine theconnection timing on the basis of the necessities even when the abnormalvalues are not set to the BLE devices 2.

In this case, the connection controller 12 can determine the connectiontiming of the BLE device 2 to be connected by calculating the dispersionvalues of the pieces of notification information of the BLE devices 2 asthe data collection devices and using, as the necessities, thedispersion values.

The magnitude of the dispersion value enables determination of whethervariation in the notification information of the BLE device 2 having thedispersion value is recently large. That is to say, when the dispersionvalue is small, the variation in the notification information is smalland it can therefore be predicted that subsequent notificationinformation has a similar value. Accordingly, the influence on theprocessing that the application executes can be reduced even when thenotification information is not acquired. The connection controller 12can determine the connection timing using the dispersion values evenwhen the abnormal values are not set to the BLE devices 2. Also in thiscase, the connection controller 12 may determine the connection timingwhile taking the radio wave status into consideration.

[b] Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment will be described. A GW device in theembodiment is different from the first embodiment in a point that when aconnection-type BLE device is reconnected, the GW device calculates thenecessity of the BLE device to be connected from previous informationand determines connection timing using the calculated necessity. FIG. 1illustrates an information collection system in the embodiment. FIG. 2also illustrates the GW device in the embodiment. Hereinafter,determination of the connection timing in reconnection is mainlydescribed and description of functions of respective parts that are thesame as those in the first embodiment is omitted.

Description is made with reference to FIG. 2. The connection controller12 receives an advertise message to detect the BLE device 20 to beconnected. The connection controller 12 checks registration ofidentification information of the detected BLE device 20 andnon-registration of information indicating that the BLE device 20 is inprogress of data collection in the device table 161 in the devicemanagement unit 16. The connection controller 12 determines that thecurrent connection with the BLE device 20 is reconnection.

Then, the connection controller 12 acquires pieces of notificationinformation of the BLE device 20 to be connected for a constant periodof time in the past from the notification information table 141 that thenotification information management unit 14 has. The constant period oftime in the past is, for example, a period of time from the time atwhich the notification information of the BLE device 20 to be connectedwas received last up to a time point in a specific period of time. Theconnection controller 12 calculates an average value and a dispersionvalue of the pieces of notification information of the BLE device 20 tobe connected using the acquired pieces of notification information.

The connection controller 12 acquires the abnormal value of the BLEdevice 20 to be connected from the device table 161 that the devicemanagement unit 16 has. The connection controller 12 calculates thedifference between the average value of the pieces of notificationinformation of the BLE device 20 to be connected and the abnormal valuethereof.

Furthermore, the connection controller 12 acquires the radio waveintensity when the notification information has been received last fromthe BLE device 20 to be connected as the radio wave intensity of the BLEdevice 20 to be connected from the radio wave intensity table 151 of theradio wave intensity management unit 15. That is to say, in this case,the radio wave intensity management unit 15 keeps pieces of informationof the radio wave intensities of the disconnected connection-type BLEdevices 2 including the BLE device 20.

The connection controller 12 calculates the necessity of the BLE device20 to be connected using the difference between the average value andthe abnormal value, the dispersion value, and the radio wave intensityfor the equation 1. In this case, the connection controller 12 uses thenecessity of the BLE device 20 to be connected as a threshold. Thenecessity of the BLE device 20 to be connected is an example of a“specific value”.

Subsequently, the connection controller 12 extracts the BLE devices 21as the data collection devices from the device table 161 that the devicemanagement unit 16 has. Then, the connection controller 12 calculatesthe necessities of the respective BLE devices 21.

Thereafter, the connection controller 12 determines whether thenecessities of the respective BLE devices 21 are lower than thenecessity of the BLE device 20 to be connected. The connectioncontroller 12 acquires next transmission and reception timing of thenotification information of the BLE device 21 the necessity of which islower than the necessity of the BLE device 20 to be connected.

When there are the BLE devices 2 the necessities of which are lower thanthe necessity of the BLE device 20 to be connected, the connectioncontroller 12 specifies the BLE device 21 with the closest nextacquisition timing of the notification information among the BLE devices21 the necessities of which are lower than the necessity of the BLEdevice 20. Then, the connection controller 12 determines that theconnection processing with the BLE device 20 to be connected is executedat the next acquisition timing of the notification information of thespecified BLE device 21.

When the necessities of the BLE devices 21 are equal to or higher thanthe necessity of the BLE device 20, the connection controller 12specifies the BLE device 21 with the lowest necessity. Then, theconnection controller 12 determines that the connection processing withthe BLE device 20 to be connected is executed at the next acquisitiontiming of the notification information of the specified BLE device 21.

After that, when the next acquisition timing of the notificationinformation of the specified BLE device 21 comes, the connectioncontroller 12 executes the connection processing with the BLE device 20to be connected. When connection with the BLE device 20 to be connectedis established, the connection controller 12 notifies the dataacquisition unit 11 of the establishment of the connection and notifiesthe device management unit 16 of the identification information of theBLE device 20 and the data acquisition cycle.

Next, flow of the connection timing determination processing by the GWdevice 1 in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11.FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the connection timing determinationprocessing. In this case, the BLE device 2 to be connected isreconnected for description.

The connection controller 12 extracts the BLE devices 2 as the datacollection devices from the device table 161 that the device managementunit 16 has (step S201).

Then, the connection controller 12 sorts the extracted BLE devices 2 inthe descending order of necessity using the necessity table 131 that thenecessity management unit 13 has (step S202).

The connection controller 12 calculates the necessity of the BLE device2 to be connected (step S203). In this example, the necessity of the BLEdevice 2 to be connected is calculated when the connection timing isdetermined. The calculation may however be performed at another timingand the connection controller 12 may calculate it, for example, when thenecessities of the data collection devices are calculated.

The connection controller 12 selects the BLE devices 2 in the order fromthe top of the sorted BLE devices 2 to select the BLE device 2 havingthe highest necessity among the unselected BLE devices 2 (step S204).

Thereafter, the connection controller 12 determines whether thenecessity of the selected BLE device 2 is lower than the necessity ofthe BLE device 2 to be connected (step S205). When the necessity of theselected BLE device 2 is equal to or higher than the necessity of theBLE device 2 to be connected (No at step S205), the connectioncontroller 12 proceeds the process to step S207.

On the other hand, when the necessity of the selected BLE device 2 islower than the necessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected (Yes atstep S205), the connection controller 12 acquires next transmission andreception timing of the notification information of the selected BLEdevice 2 (step S206).

Thereafter, the connection controller 12 determines whether selection ofall of the extracted BLE devices 2 has been completed (step S207). Whena BLE device 2 that has not been selected is remaining (No at stepS207), the connection controller 12 returns the process to step S204.

On the other hand, when selection of all of the extracted BLE devices 2has been completed (Yes at step S207), the connection controller 12determines whether there is a BLE device 2 the necessity of which islower than the necessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected (stepS208).

When there is a BLE device 2 the necessity of which is lower than thenecessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected (Yes at step S208), theconnection controller 12 determines the closest transmission andreception timing of the notification information to be the connectiontiming of the BLE device 2 to be connected (step S209).

On the other hand, when there is no BLE device 2 the necessity of whichis lower than the necessity of the BLE device 20 (No at step S208), theconnection controller 12 determines the transmission timing of thenotification information of the BLE device 2 with the lowest necessityto be the connection timing of the BLE device 2 as the connection timing(step S210).

Next, variation in the connection timing based on difference in thenecessity of each BLE device 2 to be connected in the reconnection willbe described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a diagram forexplaining the variation in the connection timing based on thedifference in the necessity of the BLE device to be connected in thereconnection.

In this example, there are the BLE devices #1 to #7 as the datacollection devices for explanation. In graph 211, the transverse axisindicates elapse of time and transmission and reception timings of thepieces of notification information of the respective BLE devices #1 to#7. The times T1 to T7 are the transmission and reception timings of thepieces of notification information of the BLE devices #1 to #7,respectively. The necessities of the BLE devices #1 to #7 are assumed tobe #1 to #7, respectively. The necessities satisfy a relation of#1>#2>#3>#4>#5>#6>#7. Furthermore, the necessity of the BLE device 2 tobe connected is assumed to be N.

Graph 212 is a graph expressing selection of the connection timing whenthe necessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected is higher than #5 andis lower than #4. In this case, #5 to #7 are lower than N. In graph 212,the times T5 to T7 enclosed with circles indicate the transmission andreception timings of the pieces of notification information of the BLEdevices 2 the necessities of which are lower than N. In this case, theconnection controller 12 determines the time T6 as the closesttransmission and reception timing from the times T5 and T6 to be theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected. That is to say,the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected in this casecorresponds to the timing indicated by a thick arrow in the graph 212.

Graph 213 is a graph expressing selection of the connection timing whenthe necessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected is higher than #3 andis lower than #2. In this case, #3 to #7 are lower than N. In the graph213, the times T3 to T7 enclosed with circles indicate the transmissionand reception timings of the pieces of notification information of theBLE devices 2 the necessities of which are lower than N. In this case,the connection controller 12 determines the time T4 as the closesttransmission and reception timing among the times T3 to T6 to be theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected. That is to say,the connection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected in this casecorresponds to the timing indicated by a thick arrow in the graph 213.

As described above, in the reconnection, the higher the necessity of theBLE device 2 to be connected, the earlier the connection timing of theBLE device 2 as the BLE device 2 to be connected. By contrast, the lowerthe necessity of the BLE device 2 to be connected, the later theconnection timing of the BLE device 2 to be connected.

As described above, the GW device in the embodiment determines theconnection timing using the necessity of the BLE device to be connectedas the threshold in the reconnection. With this GW device, theconnection-type BLE device can be connected and the notificationinformation thereof can be acquired while further reducing acquisitionfailure of the notification information with the high necessity thatlargely influences the processing of the application when theacquisition failure thereof occurs. Accordingly, service quality ofservice using the notification information can be further improved.

Hardware Configuration

FIG. 13 is a hardware configuration diagram of the GW device. The GWdevice 1 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 901, a hard disk drive(HDD) 902, a memory 903, a communication interface 904, an input device905, and an output device 906.

The input device 905 is a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. The outputdevice 906 is a monitor or the like. An operator inputs data to the GWdevice 1 using the input device 905 and the output device 906. Thecommunication interface 904 is an interface for communicating with thecenter server 3 and the BLE devices 2 illustrated in FIG. 1.

The HDD 902 is an auxiliary storage device. The HDD 902 has functions ofthe storage devices that the notification information management unit14, the radio wave intensity management unit 15, and the devicemanagement unit 16 illustrated in FIG. 2 have, for example. The HDD 902stores therein, for example, the necessity table 131, the notificationinformation table 141, the radio wave intensity table 151, and thedevice table 161. The HDD 902 stores therein various programs includinga program for implementing the functions of the data acquisition unit11, the connection controller 12, the necessity management unit 13, thenotification information management unit 14, the radio wave intensitymanagement unit 15, and the device management unit 16 illustrated inFIG. 2.

The CPU 901 is connected to the HDD 902, the memory 903, thecommunication interface 904, the input device 905, and the output device906 via a bus. The CPU 901 reads various programs stored in the HDD 902and develops and executes them onto the memory 903. The CPU 901 therebyimplements the functions of the data acquisition unit 11, the connectioncontroller 12, the necessity management unit 13, the notificationinformation management unit 14, the radio wave intensity management unit15, and the device management unit 16 illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 14 is a hardware configuration diagram of each BLE device. The BLEdevice 2 includes a CPU 911, a memory 912, a communication interface913, and a sensor 914, as illustrated in FIG. 14.

The communication interface 913 is an interface for communicating withthe GW device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1. The sensor 914 is a device foracquiring predetermined information. The sensor 914 is, for example, atemperature measuring instrument, a humidity measuring instrument, or anilluminance measuring instrument.

The memory 912 stores therein various programs including a program forimplementing the function of transmitting the information acquired bythe sensor 914 to the GW device 1 through the communication interface913.

The CPU 911 is connected to the memory 912, the communication interface913, and the sensor 914 through a bus. The CPU 911 reads, develops, andexecutes the various programs from the memory 912 to implement thefunction of transmitting the information acquired by the sensor 914 tothe GW device 1 through the communication interface 913.

One aspect of the present invention can improve service quality.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes of aiding the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to further the art, and arenot to be construed as limitations to such specifically recited examplesand conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in thespecification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority ofthe invention. Although the embodiments of the present invention hasbeen described in detail, it should be understood that the variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication control device comprising: a dataacquisition unit that repeatedly acquires pieces of notificationinformation for executing predetermined processing from a plurality ofterminal devices; and a connection controller that detects a specificconnectible terminal device, calculates digitalized values of influencesof the respective pieces of notification information acquired from therespective terminal devices on the predetermined processing on the basisof the pieces of notification information already acquired by the dataacquisition unit, selects a terminal device on the basis of thecalculated digitalized values of the influences, and causes the dataacquisition unit to stand by for acquisition of the notificationinformation from the selected terminal device and establishes connectionwith the specific terminal device.
 2. The communication control deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition unit acquirescommunication states with the respective terminal devices astransmission sources of the respective pieces of notificationinformation in acquisition of the respective pieces of notificationinformation, and the connection controller calculates the digitalizedvalues of the influences on the basis of the pieces of notificationinformation and the communication states already acquired by the dataacquisition unit.
 3. The communication control device according to claim1, wherein the connection controller selects the terminal device fromwhich the notification information is acquired at closest timing amongthe terminal devices having the digitalized values of the influencesthat are equal to or lower than a threshold.
 4. The communicationcontrol device according to claim 1, wherein the connection controllerdetermines whether connection of the specific terminal device isreconnection, and when the connection is the reconnection, theconnection controller calculates a specific digitalized value of theinfluence of the notification information that is acquired from thespecific terminal device on the predetermined processing on the basis ofthe notification information already acquired by the data acquisitionunit and selects the terminal device using the specific value.
 5. Thecommunication control device according to claim 1, wherein the dataacquisition unit acquires the notification information from the specificterminal device after the connection controller establishes theconnection with the specific terminal device.
 6. A communication controlsystem comprising a communication control device, a plurality ofterminal devices, and a processing execution device, wherein each of theterminal devices includes: an acquisition unit that repeatedly acquiresnotification information, and a transmitter that transmits thenotification information acquired by the acquisition unit to thecommunication control device, the processing execution device executespredetermined processing using the pieces of notification informationtransmitted from the respective terminal devices, and the communicationcontrol device includes: a data acquisition unit that acquires thepieces of notification information from the respective terminal devices,and a connection controller that detects a specific connectible terminaldevice, calculates digitalized values of influences of the respectivepieces of notification information acquired from the respective terminaldevices on the predetermined processing on the basis of the pieces ofnotification information already acquired by the data acquisition unit,selects a terminal device on the basis of the calculated digitalizedvalues of the influences, and causes the data acquisition unit to standby for acquisition of the notification information from the selectedterminal device and establishes connection with the specific terminaldevice.
 7. A communication control method comprising: acquiring piecesof notification information for executing predetermined processing froma plurality of terminal devices; detecting a specific connectibleterminal device; calculating digitalized values of influences of therespective pieces of notification information acquired from therespective terminal devices on the predetermined processing on the basisof the pieces of already acquired notification information; selecting aterminal device on the basis of the calculated digitalized values of theinfluences; standing by for acquisition of the notification informationfrom the selected terminal device and establishing connection with thespecific terminal device; and acquiring the pieces of notificationinformation from the respective terminal devices and the specificterminal device.